Robots are actually for the rich

[rednblacklumberjack]

Interesting to reconsider robots as tools of class struggle, to put it one - highly controversial - way.

Disclaimer: Generally like robotics. However, I do not own a robot, unless my coffeemaker meets that definition...

[Tinker]

[Demon of Undoing]

That's hilarious. I just got rid of my dead coffeemaker in favor of a stainless percolator designed to be run on the stovetop or even a fire. I'm stepping back where possible, and my coffee has never tasted better. It's amazing what it tastes like when the water has never been heated and put through platic bits.

On the other hand, I'll be starting Arduino work after Christmas. Going to make a home security system that would give the shareholders of ADT an aneurysm.

[Ibrahim]

In a "class war" context robots screw over the proletariat by replacing huge numbers of them in various service and, most crucially, manufacturing positions. Anything a robot does a person is not doing, and that person is out of a job.

[Sparky]

[Tinker]

My wife uses a French Press as well.

[rednblacklumberjack]

[Demon of Undoing]

Well, put it this way. Every little naughty project I've thought up so far has already got web pages put to it.

.

[Azrael]

[Demon of Undoing]

Thanks, but let's not count any chickens just yet. I have to ask a lot of questions and there is a lot of learning ahead. I'm keeping it as close to the vest as possible, but there are probably going to be some moments where I have to trust someone not to tweak when I ask about sensitive items. The security environment right now can make even misapprehensions dangerous.

[noddy]

got me curious about whats out there, found http://www.practicalarduino.com/projects
and its got a skeleton project for starting such things from http://www.practicalarduino.com/project ... ty-sensors

no end of support for sensors and whatnot http://www.freeduino.org/

personally, i just a contract which requires me to create a distributed backend for this kind of work and also custom hardware based on a mix of aduino embedded and arm consoles so ill hopefully get quite good at it over the next 6 months... my dream trained army of monkeys with molotovs might get upraded to titanium spiders with flamethrowers.

[Azrael]

Noddy, the page you linked has a security project that may be helpful for DoU.

Edit: oh, you already knew that . . .

[Tinker]

What pre-req skills would I need to do an Arduino project?

[Azrael]

I don't think it's anything you can't handle. What are you thinking of doing? [PM me if it's to hot for an open forum.]

[noddy]

[Demon of Undoing]

I'm doing it specifically to learn from the ground up, as a means to an end. I've had family that was real big into electronics so some of the stuff is very familiar, but man is there lots to learn.

[noddy]

yeh doing some basic programming tutorials and getting the hang of the principles and patterns would be the correct starting point i think.

http://docs.python.org/tutorial/

the neat bit about python is that it was the first of the scripting languages (now their is also ruby) that had the full support for all the structures/operators found in "proper" languages (c family) but without the complex syntax required for doing memory handling, it automates all that bit for you.

python is 100-1000 times slower than the low level ones but in many (most?) cases the real world difference between .01 and .001 of a second is somewhat moot and in alot of pro environments they still use things like python and only bother doing it in a low level language for specific tasks that do need to happen as fast as possible.

one of the things in programming is that a good pattern in a slow language will be faster in the real world than a shit pattern in a fast language - design and understanding of the problem are every bit as important as raw speed.

i get away with not having much electronics background because i have alot of programming background, i havent found much that confused me for too long and quite often someone has already done the more tedious work of wrapping all the binary protocols in higher level interfaces anyway.. yay for the internet

[noddy]

http://www.pygame.org/docs/

this is a fun little library that gives python hooks to the graphics card,mouse,keyboard and joystick - allowing people to learn programming doing arcade games.

a more fun way to learn to program than doing accounting and more importantly it is event based programming which is the type of progamming required for doing arduino projects.... a main loop which waits on events happening (in this case kb/mouse) and then fires off logic routines and output routines in reaction to those events.

[Demon of Undoing]

This is very helpful. I may ask questions. Until after the new year, it's just going to be study.

[noddy]

no dramas - my web forum time is going to be quite on and off for the next few months, my workload and my private hobbies are both at maximum saturation and it will be increasingly unlikely i wish to use a computer once ive spent most of the day bashing my head against it for money.

when i do check in ill be more than happy to offer any tips or whatnot.

[Demon of Undoing]

[Tinker]

I had a free ride to engineering school when I was 18. You guys are making me sort of regret not taking it.